Ramadan effect: Stock markets likely to remain subdued

Despite the recovery in global oil prices in recent weeks, trading activities across the GCC stock markets are likely to remain subdued during the Holy Month of Ramadan, according to a report.

‘The trading activity within the region is expected to be subdued during the Holy Month of Ramadan due to lack of participation from retail investors’, Allied Investment Partners PJSC said in a report on Sunday.

The report said that institutional investors, however, will continue to closely follow the developments in the global markets and quarterly earnings from regional companies. ‘Going forward, the bullish trend is likely to continue on the back of supportive macroeconomic conditions and higher oil prices’.

As per the report, performance of the regional markets during last week showed a mixed trend with four out of eight regional indexes closing in green, while remaining four closing in red. Egypt was the best performing index regionally with gains of 0.75 per cent last week, closely followed by Saudi Arabia and Oman, which gained 0.66 per cent and 0.62 per cent, respectively.

Gulf Baader Capital Markets (GBCM) expects trading activity on the Muscat Securities Market (MSM) to see lower volumes and range-bound trading as the sultanate heads into the first week of Ramadan. Telecom stocks might be under pressure after the announcement of the third operator, GBCM said in a note.

Among the declining indices last week, Abu Dhabi topped the list with 2.77 per cent decline followed by 1.04 per cent fall in Dubai. Bahrain’s key index fell 0.53 per cent during the week ended on May 2.